How To Be Yourself When You're Not Yourself
by Plus2-Minus1-Brilliance
Summary: Donnie creates an anti-mutagen that ends up accidentally turning them human, and Splinter into a regular rat. Things get even more complicated when they get picked up by Child Services...Can they survive being humans? Will they ever get Splinter back?
1. Exactly

_How To Be Yourself When You're Not Yourself_

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By: plus2-minus1-brilliance

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Chapter One - Exactly

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Science is, and has always been, a very exact art. Donatello knew this very well; he was, after all, a genius. One wrong move – just one extra drop of a chemical – and a whole experiment could be ruined and, in the more extreme cases, explode. For that reason, Donatello's favorite time to work in his lab was when his brothers were either out or asleep, and the place was peaceful and quiet.

Of course, they never _meant _to ruin all his hard work – his hours, sometimes days worth of careful calculations and precise measurements. Work that often could be of great benefit to the lives of his family, not to mention mankind. His brothers just didn't understand.

Today, though, had been a really great day for the young scientist. Leonardo had chosen today to catch up on some reading and had only ventured out of his room when he was in need of sustenance. Raphael had left the night before to hang out with Casey, and decided to stay out with him for another day. Michelangelo, getting bored with the television, had gone out to wander the tunnels, taking his sketchpad with him.

As soon as the door closed behind his younger brother, Donatello had rushed to his lab. He'd been waiting for an opportunity such as this, because his current main project was very important and any mistakes could be disastrous. It was also quite top secret.

Presently, it was nearing seven in the evening, and Donnie could be seen (were anyone around to see him) squinting at a piece of paper, trying to make sense of something he'd written a few days ago. Having gone as far as he could on the important experiment for the day, he'd put it safely up out of the way, and decided to switch to another. It wasn't as monumental as the previous one, but it was fairly secret, being meant as a nice surprise for his family.

Now if only he could tell what he should be doing with it. That number was either a three or a...seven? No, it had to be a three. Right? And what was that word that looked like 'shake and bake'? And...pizza Hot Pockets?

Donatello blinked. These weren't his notes; this was the shopping list! With an aggravated sigh, Donnie put the paper aside and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. He knew he was close with this one – just a few more tweaks until it was ready for use – and the urge to have it finished was battling with his knowledge that working while tired was, more often than not, dangerous.

And then Mikey was there.

"Hey, Donnie, guess what!" he exclaimed, bouncing in front of his youngest older brother.

"Mikey, I'm trying to concentrate here. Could this wait?"

"No, it really can't, bro! Look, look!"

Donatello sighed and turned to his excited little brother. "All right, Mikey, what is it?"

"You've just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize! See?"

And Michelangelo held out a gold medal and a diploma. Donatello blinked at the items, then at his brother, and then back to them. How had he won it? He couldn't remember sending anything in...But still, there it was, right in front of him. And it was beautiful!

"You have to give a speech now!" Michelangelo whispered to him. Donatello blinked at him again. Now? He hadn't prepared anything. "Come on, they're all waiting!"

All waiting? Donatello looked around and sure enough, there was a large crowd seated in front of him. He himself was standing behind a podium. Looking again to the crowd, he could see his brothers, father, and friends smiling up at him. There was also a full crowd of important looking men and women, all holding their own Prizes.

"Um, well...It's always been a dream of mine to win...I couldn't be more grateful to be chosen for this immense honor. Being who I am, I didn't think this dream would ever come true, you know? But here I am...I'd like to thank my family and friends for always being there for me. To be, um, truthful, I'm not totally sure what I did to deserve this. It was quite sudden. But whatever it was, I am thankful, and I hope it will do much good for the world. Thank you."

The crowd rose to its feet and clapped and cheered him. A rousing chorus of "Donnie! Donnie! Donnie!" rose up. His brothers came onto the stage and lifted him up. "Donnie! Donnie! Donnie!" the crowd went on. The smile on Donatello's face could have lit New York City...

"Donnie! Donnie! Wake up, man! Donnie?" Michelangelo stood in front of the dreaming scientist, trying to rouse him from sleep. "Donnie, come on man! Donatello!"

Donatello continued to slumber, a huge smile spreading on his face. Michelangelo wondered at what Donnie was dreaming about, and almost felt bad that he had to wake him up from whatever it was. But there was no way that Michelangelo was going to let his brother sleep in his lab, and he definitely wasn't going to let him miss dinner.

"Don, if you don't wake up, I'm gonna dump this goo all over you!" Michelangelo loudly informed, bending over Donatello to get a closer look at what his brother had been working on. "Looks like marshmallow fluff…" he muttered, then shook his head, and reached slowly for it saying loudly, "In five…four…three…"

Donatello stirred, groaned, and slowly blinked open his eyes.

"Two…" Michelangelo called, his hand nearly around the container.

Donatello's eyes flew open wide and he yelled out, "Mikey, no!" as he jumped out of his chair to stop Michelangelo from doing whatever he was about to do. Unfortunately, he lost his balance, slammed into his little brother and both of them toppled to the ground.

The whole desk shook, and they heard the sounds of things falling over. Both turtles cringed at the sound and worked quickly to untangle themselves so they could assess the damage done.

"I'm really sorry, Donnie! I was just trying to wake you up; I wasn't really gonna dump anything on you!" Michelangelo said as he rolled to his side and pushed himself to a sitting position.

"I know Mikey, but I've told you not to touch things a hundred times!" Donatello chided, now on his knees.

"I wasn't gonna touch! It was just a ploy!"

Both on their feet, they turned to face the mess. Donatello's eyes went straight to where his important experiment had been, and had a near heart attack at seeing it lying on its side. He rushed forward and scooped it up, examining it closely.

"Is it okay?" Mikey asked in his best 'I'm just a kid and don't know any better so go easy on me' voice.

"Yes, it appears fine. I don't see any cracks in the container, and there's no wetness on the outside," Donatello answered, setting it carefully back down on the desk.

"Is everything else okay?"

Donatello looked over everything else. A few pens had fallen to the floor, and a few unused beakers had been knocked over, but nothing looked broken. The white goo had just shifted a bit to the left.

"Everything else is good, too. You're lucky." Donatello turned to his little brother with a frown on his face. "What were you thinking?"

"Well, I didn't want you missing dinner and sleeping in here _again,_" Michelangelo explained. "It's not healthy. You need proper rest and nutrition to keep up your strength."

Donatello smiled and shook his head in defeat. "You're right."

"Of course I am!" Michelangelo beamed. "Now c'mon, let's go get some grub and watch something really stupid!"

Michelangelo grabbed Donatello by the wrist and dragged him out of the lab, calling out "I got him!" A reply call of "About damn time!" came from Raph, and a responding "Please watch your language," from Leo. Donatello laughed.

And the white goo sat there, looking completely harmless. Because even if Donatello would think to put a microscope to it, he wouldn't have been able to tell that anything had dripped into it.

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Author's Note: Huzzah! I can't believe I'm finally posting this! I know it's a slow start, and not a very big one, but it is what it is. I've got a lot of the fic planned out, and trust me, it does get more exciting. Big thanks to my sister for betaing, listening to all my ideas, and putting up with my whining when I didn't think it was any good. (Her fics are brilliant, too - Akiko, Keeper of Sheep)

Okay, just a few notes. Since I started writing this in 2007 (right after _TMNT_ came out), that is when the fic starts. As far as where this is canonically...Well, let me just say that they're sixteen-ish. Other than that, I guess you can just choose your own. This will be a fairly long fic, but updates will be sporadic at best. And, finally, I must give a few warnings that will apply to various future chapters. Not all of them will be in all the fic, and some of them will barely be in at all, but…well, it's best you know ahead of time, I guess. Please don't not read the fic just because you're not fond of one or two of the things. Here goes…

WARNING: This fic will contain, among other things – angst, strong language, self-mutilation, sex, drug use, original characters, violence, and homosexuality. If any/all of these things are not your cup of tea, I suggest you put it down and walk away. I'd hate for you to get burned and then sue because you were too stupid to heed the warning label.

And, of course, the standard…

Disclaimer: I don't own _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_. I'm just a lowly fic writer who aspires to one day be as great as those guys who created our heroes in a half shell.

There you are. I really hope you've enjoyed the first chapters, and all chapters in the future! Thank you for reading and, hopefully, reviewing. Ta! (Sorry the first A/N is so long, there was a lot to go through)


	2. Marshmallow Fluff to the Rescue

_How To Be Yourself When You're Not Yourself_

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By: plus2-minus1-brilliance

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Chapter Two - Marshmallow Fluff to the Rescue

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"I don't think there's a single part of me that _doesn't_ hurt…" Michelangelo groaned as he sank onto the couch.

"Well, other than the fact that it's physically impossible for your shell to hurt…I agree." Donatello grimaced as he followed Mikey's example.

"It's because we don't practice enough," Leonardo stated, taking a seat in an arm chair. "If we were practicing every day -"

"We'd have no time for anything else," Raphael cut in, opting instead to head for the kitchen to grab a drink.

Leonardo huffed at being cut off, but decided not to reply; he was too sore and too tired to start anything. They'd just finished nearly three hours of training with Master Splinter, and it had been eight days since they'd last trained.

"He still didn't have to drive us so hard," Mikey whined. "We've been doing stuff. Important stuff!"

"Mikey, I'm sorry to tell you, but getting to the next level in Crackdown does not count as important," Leonardo informed with faux sympathy.

Michelangelo just stuck his tongue out at his eldest brother in retaliation, not feeling up to moving anything else. Otherwise, Leo would have been the proud recipient of a pillow to the face.

Coming back over to his brothers, Raphael dropped a bottle of water next to each of them and then sat down in another arm chair. "Even if we haven't formally trained for a while, it doesn't mean we ain't been doin' nothin', though. Master Splinter coulda gone a little easier. This was just…vindictive."

Donatello snorted into his water, then said in a contemplative tone, "And yet he always looks so innocent…"

"The evil ones always do," Michelangelo said conspiratorially, getting a chuckle from each of his brothers. "I bet he's laughing at us right now."

"If he is, it's because we deserve it," Leonardo stated. He knew they were being pathetic. His sons were being lazy, so Master Splinter gave them the push they needed. But who ever wants to admit when they're wrong?

"Yeah…but now I feel I deserve some major pain killers! If only I had the energy…" Michelangelo ended his statement with an over-dramatized pained whimper.

"Well, I've actually got something I've been working on. It should be really powerful, but I haven't tested it yet," Donatello commented.

"Great, go get it! No better time to test a pain reliever than when in intense pain, right?" Michelangelo said, if for no other reason than it meant he wouldn't have to be the one to get it - Donatello never let anyone else touch anything in his lab, after all.

Donatello groaned. "Now I wish I hadn't said anything…"

"The quicker you get it, the quicker Mikey quits whining," Leonardo said, trying to offer good incentive.

"That's it!" This time, Michelangelo found the strength to throw the pillow, which ended up smacking Leo right in the forehead. "Ha!"

"All right, I'm going," Donatello said, forcing himself off the couch. "Don't want to be next…" he muttered as he limped off to his lab.

"You're the greatest!" Mikey called after him. Then, once he'd left earshot, said, "Think it'll work?"

"I can't think of the last time something Donnie made failed," Leonardo replied.

"Yeah, it'll work," Michelangelo agreed.

"Either that, or it'll melt all our skin off," Raphael said with a shrug. "Gotta keep my options open."

"All right, here it is…" Donatello said, walking back towards them. "I rubbed a bit on my arm and it seems to be successful."

"No melting, then?" Raphael questioned.

"Um…no. Just a pleasant tingling sensation."

"Sweet!" Michelangelo grabbed the container from Donatello. "Hey! This is the marshmallow fluff!"

"The what?" Leonardo looked now skeptically at the concoction.

"I saw it in his lab last week, and I thought it looked like marshmallow fluff," Michelangelo explained while rubbing a little onto his shoulder. "Ooh, it _does_ tingle!"

The four turtles passed the container around, rubbing the pain reliever on various body parts, enjoying the tingle, and the fact that it really did relieve their pains.

"Thank you _so_ much, dude!" Michelangelo gushed when finally nothing more hurt.

"Yeah, thanks Donnie," Leonardo agreed.

"Score another for the mad scientist," Raphael added.

Donatello smiled bashfully. "It did turn out nicely. Thanks guys."

"Hey, you should go see if Master Splinter wants some," Michelangelo said. "Sure he's an evil slave-driver, but he hurts, too."

"Good thinking, Mikey," Donatello said.

Picking up the container, he went off in search of their father. Looking in the most obvious place first, he was rewarded with finding Master Splinter meditating in his room. He knocked quietly and waited for a response.

"Enter, my son."

Donatello did so, and kneeled before the aged rat. "Master, I've created a pain relief cream, and we've just successfully tested it. We thought you might like to try it, too."

Master Splinter looked up at his son, a proud smile on his face. "You are very gifted, Donatello. I am proud of your accomplishments."

"Thank you, Sensei," Donatello blushed at the compliment.

"I would love to try it," Master Splinter added, reaching a hand out.

Donatello handed over his creation, smiling brightly. No matter how hard Splinter worked them, Donnie couldn't have asked for a better father.

"Oh!" Master Splinter exclaimed, a surprised look on his face. "It tingles!"

A laugh escaped Donatello at that, and Master Splinter chuckled along with him.

"It works wonderfully, my son. Thank you," said Master Splinter when he had finished, handing the container back to Donatello.

"I'm glad it went over so well," Donatello confessed. "I guess I'll have to start making more tomorrow. Will we…er…be training tomorrow, Sensei?"

Master Splinter chuckled lightly. "I do not think so. But it should not wait another week."

"Yes, we all agree. We just kind of got caught up in our own things…"

"I understand." Master Splinter smiled kindly. "You boys are at an age where you crave independence. It is only natural."

Donatello looked down at the ground, sorry he'd brought it up. "I…" he began to say, but stopped when an odd sensation took over him. The same tingling he'd felt when applying the pain reliever had reappeared all over his body. Suddenly, his vision blurred and the world turned on its side.

The last thing he heard was a worried "My son!" from Master Splinter and then everything went black.

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Author's Note: …Or maybe it'll only be a couple of days. Yay for updates! It actually might have been done yesterday, but my sister wanted me to hang out and watch M*A*S*H with her. A quick thank you to all you wonderful people who clicked on my story. Watching my hits counter go up really inspired me! And to those who reviewed or put the story on their alerts list, you are the best!

Although I still make no promises, I'm going to try extra hard to get the next chapter out soon. Cliffhangers drive me crazy, too, but they must be done. I apologize that this chapter is also short and kind of action-less. Thanks to those who got this far!

A Special Note to Crackdown Fans: I picked this game for the sole reason that it was the first game title I saw mentioned in the archive for Ctrl+Alt+Del (an online comic) in 2007. I've never actually played it. I'm sure it's a great game, though.


	3. Hair!

_How To Be Yourself When You're Not Yourself_

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By: plus2-minus1-brilliance

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Chapter Three - Hair!

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Donatello's first groggy thought upon waking up was that he felt very unlike himself. Firstly, everything hurt, most especially his head, and his stomach felt rather queasy. His limbs felt weak. There was also the oddest sensation of feeling somehow _softer_. Plus, something was tickling his chest, and last time he'd checked, his plastron wasn't ticklish. With a very good deal of effort, Donatello managed to push himself into a sitting position, his eyes still shut firmly.

Something fell from his chest into his lap, and that something gave a frightened sounding squeak. Donatello's eyes flew open at the feeling of the something scurrying off his lap and down his leg, it's claws digging into his skin.

His skin…it was…_pale pink!_

His hands flew to his legs, wiping at them as if he thought the color would come off if he did. It was then that he realized that his arms and hands were the same color and that they each had -

"Five fingers…" Donatello muttered, turning his hands over and over again in front of his face, staring at them with wide eyes. A thought then occurred to him and he looked at his feet. Sure enough, each one had five toes. He wiggled them experimentally, then folded his legs up so that he could reach his feet with his hands.

_What is going on?_ he thought as he wrapped his thin, pink fingers around his pink feet. Bending over as he did, something fell into his face, so he brought one hand back up to brush whatever it was away. It was soft to the touch, black in color, and quite attached to his scalp.

"Hair!" Donatello exclaimed, the word echoing in the complete silence of the room. "I have hair! _Hair?_"

Now one hundred percent panicked, Donatello just continued to sit there, one hand on his foot, the other grasping at his hair, repeating the word over and over. Somewhere in his mind, a voice was telling him to remain calm and think about this situation rationally. Donatello ignored this voice and started shaking.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Donatello saw something cautiously crawling towards him. He recognized it as the same something that had been on his chest - a large brown rat. Donatello blinked and let go of his hair. The small animal had an odd calming effect on him. There was something familiar about it…

An ear-piercing scream suddenly filled the air. Donatello turned towards the direction he thought it was coming from as the rat scurried back into hiding. The scream was quickly followed by two others, followed by a yell of "Who the hell are you?" Donatello recognized the voice as being Raphael's.

He hurried to his feet, thinking that whatever had happened to him must have happened to his brothers, as well, and immediately fell to his knees. Trying again, this time more slowly, Donatello managed to get two steps before falling again. The shouts from his brothers were getting more and more frantic sounding. With a loud groan, Donatello did the only other thing he could think of - he crawled.

The queasiness he'd felt upon waking intensified as he made his way as quickly as he could towards his distressed brothers. He also felt that he was going to topple over - his center of gravity seemed to be very off.

Raphael, Leonardo and Michelangelo had stopped shouting at each other by the time Donatello had reached the living room. He looked up at the three of them; or, at least, what he _assumed_ was them. What he actually saw were three humans.

One of them was seated on the couch, a pillow held firmly to his chest as if it were a shield. Dark blond, chin-length hair bordered a slim, pale face. The boy's blue eyes were wide with fright as he stared at the other two.

_Michelangelo…_ thought Donatello, looking to the next boy.

This one was standing in a defensive position. Brown curls fell into his face, ending at his cheekbones, which were very defined. The look in his brown eyes was one of confusion as he stared at the third boy.

Said third boy was also standing, although his position was definitely one of attack. This one's hair was very dark brown, and was cut short, although it looked as though the boy had just gone out for a walk in hurricane force winds. Black eyes glared back at the curly haired boy.

_Leonardo and Raphael,_ Donatello reasoned.

"Guys!" he called out, finally coming up beside the couch.

The three boys, already on edge, jumped at his voice. The two standing wobbled horribly, then both fell backwards, luckily each having a chair behind them.

"It's okay, it's me! I mean, it's Donatello," Donnie amended, knowing that, obviously, he didn't look like himself.

"Donnie?" the one on the couch asked hopefully; Donatello was now sure it was Michelangelo.

"Yeah, Mikey, it's me." Donatello pulled himself into a standing position, using the arm of the couch to balance himself.

"Donatello," said the one assumed to be Leonardo, "what's going on? Why are we suddenly human?"

"I honestly have absolutely no idea," Donatello replied, shaking his head, then frowning deeply as his new, shoulder-length hair whacked him in the face.

"Well get an idea!" the one who was now definitely identified to be Raphael demanded angrily.

Donatello rolled his eyes. "Gee, Raph, that's a great idea - I'll get right on that," he said with all the sarcasm he could muster.

"How do you know who we are?" Michelangelo asked, causing all of them to look at him a little incredulously.

"You may not look like you used to, but you still act the same," Donatello replied, giving his little brother a comforting smile.

"Oh…" Michelangelo said, nodding slowly. "Well, whatever happened, it was freakin' painful! Got any more of that cream?"

Donatello nearly fell over again as realization hit him. The pain reliever! They'd used it, and now they were all suddenly human. But how…there was nothing in the cream that could have caused this reaction…the only thing he had that could do this was…

"Oh, no…" Donatello groaned.

"What? Did you figure out what caused this?" Leonardo asked, attempting to stand again.

"It…it can't be possible, though! I never worked on them at the same time…I always put it safely out of the way before I work on anything else!"

"Put _what_ out of the way?" Raph asked, looking back up at Donnie from where he'd been checking out his new body.

Donatello cringed a little. He hadn't wanted to tell them about it, at least not until it had been completed. He didn't appear to have any other choice now, though.

"I was working on something special…" he began, a little unsure of how to explain it. "It…well, when it was finished…I mean, the desired effect would have been…it was supposed to revert Master Splinter back to his human form."

The three other turtles-turned-human stared blankly at him for a moment, trying to work through the mumbled explanation.

"You mean, it would have un-mutated him?" Leonardo finally asked.

"Exactly."

"But how did _we_ get it?" Raphael asked, staring at his fingers as he wiggled them experimentally.

"The pain reliever. My anti-mutagen must have somehow gotten mixed in…But I just don't see _how_!"

"Um…" Michelangelo began, biting his lip nervously, then stopping to wonder at the weird new sensation.

"What, Mikey?" Donatello asked patiently. Michelangelo was freaked out enough without having Donnie yelling at him.

"Well…remember the other day, when I woke you up? I remember you were working on the cream, cos of the marshmallow fluff thing…and then stuff got knocked over…Maybe the anti-mutate-y thing got knocked over, too?"

Donatello frowned. "Actually, you're right, it _did_ get knocked over, but nothing appeared to have leaked out…"

"Maybe you should check it again," Leonardo suggested.

Donatello nodded in agreement, but was reluctant to move. He did feel a bit steadier, but his muscled were screaming in protest, even more so than they had after their last training session. Still, this was important - quite possibly the singly most important thing that had ever come up. With a tired sigh, Donatello moved one foot in front of the other, still balancing himself on the couch.

Now that he was moving, he noticed that he had gotten a bit taller, as well. That explained why his center of gravity was so messed up. Well, he imagined it also had something to do with his lack of shell.

He managed to get to his lab without falling over by using the walls to hold up most of his weight, and went straight for the cabinet he'd locked the anti-mutagen in. Looking at it very closely, it still appeared to have no cracks. Sitting down in his desk chair, Donatello unscrewed the lid. And there it was…

A tiny crack, right where the lid screwed over the container. Right where he wouldn't have noticed it with the lid screwed on.

"Oh, come on!" Donatello yelled at it, not quite able to grasp the audacity of the situation.

"Donnie!" came Michelangelo's urgent call from the living room. "Donnie come back!"

_Now what_ thought an irritated Donatello as he wheeled himself back to the others. As he approached, he noticed that they all looked supremely worried, more than they had when he'd left.

"Well, there is a crack. It was under the lid, so I didn't see it," Donatello said, another sigh escaping his lips.

"Yeah, whatever, we've got a new issue," Raphael commented.

"Maybe not," Leonardo corrected, though he seemed sure that Raphael had it right. "It's just…where's Master Splinter?"

Donatello blinked. He'd been with Master Splinter when he'd blacked out…it had been right after the old rat had used his pain reliever…

"Oh, no! No, no, no!" Donatello cried, wheeling himself as quickly as possible back to Master Splinter's room.

"What? Do you know where he is?" Leonardo called after him. "Donnie!"

But Donatello didn't listen, he just kept going. The cream was supposed to be an anti-mutagen, which meant it would have turned Splinter back into a human when it was finished. That meant, that if Donnie and his brothers used it, it would have turned them back into ordinary turtles. Since what it actually did was turn them fully human, Donatello had a good guess as to where his father now was, and there was no time to waste.

"Master Splinter!" he called when he'd reached the room. "Sensei? Here, Sensei!"

Donatello moved onto his hands and knees and crawled around the room, scanning for the little rat that had been on his chest when he'd awoken. He was furious at himself for not realizing it sooner.

"Ah ha!" Donnie cried, spying the rat hiding under the wardrobe. Slowly, Donatello reached a hand towards the rat, trying not to frighten him. Master Splinter sniffed at Donatello's hand and slowly edged towards the now-human. Once he was close enough, Donatello grabbed his father, feeling even more furious at himself as he felt the little creature squirm nervously in his hand.

"Donatello, what are you doing?"

Donatello turned to see Leonardo leaning against the doorframe, watching him. With yet another sigh, Donatello held out Master Splinter for Leonardo to see.

"Tell me that's not…" Leonardo began, his eyes going wide with shock as he stared at the squirming rat.

"I'm afraid it is…the anti-mutagen wasn't finished yet - it seems to have had the opposite effect than intended. It's _completed_ our mutations, instead of reversing them," Donatello explained, his anger at himself leaking into his tone.

Leonardo frowned, taking the rat from his brother, and holding it up to his face. The rat looked back somberly.

"I don't believe this…what the hell are we supposed to do now?" Leonardo asked, sounding quite angry himself. He cradled Master Splinter against his stomach, then twitched as the rat brushed against the now-sensitive skin there.

"I guess I'm going to have to create a _re_-mutagen. It's not going to be easy…I'd been working on this one for over a year, and, obviously, it still wasn't ready. Probably wouldn't have been for _another_ year, to tell the truth…"

"Years? We might be stuck like this for _years_?" Leonardo practically yelled.

Donatello cringed. "Well, I had a lot of interruptions, and I was less sure of what I was doing for the first few months, whereas now I have a much firmer grasp on the subject. And since we all want this to be over quickly, I assume there'll be less interruptions."

"Right…" Leonardo sighed. "I am exhausted and in a great deal of pain, and I assume you're no better off."

Donatello nodded.

"I say we go tell Mikey and Raph what's up, and then rest. When we're feeling better, we'll get started on fixing this. All right?"

"Yes, that sounds good," Donatello agreed. "Want to use the chair going back?"

"No, you can take it - you seem to be having more trouble walking than I do," Leonardo observed.

"I think it's because I'm taller," Donatello explained, letting himself fall onto the chair.

The two fell into silence and made their way back to the living room to fill their brothers in on the plan.

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Author's Note: Fwee, a new chapter! Less cliffhanger-y this time, too. I do hope it's as good as you were hoping it'd be. Let me know either way! I promise I am going to describe the turtles' human forms more. I just didn't want to stick you with long, drawn out explanations of their appearances right off.

Also, as you can see, I'm doing the Author's Notes at the end now, with the titles at the beginning instead. I find I like it better this way. (shameless plug commencing…now) That's how my sister and I are doing it in our collaborative work, _Chaos Theory_, a Power Rangers fanfiction (chockfull of chaos and slash!). It's posted under our joint penname, Plus2Brilliance.

And if you're a Harry Potter fan (shameless plug 2 commencing…now), go check out my other fic, _The Difference Between Dreams and Reality_! It craves your reviews!

All right, that's enough crap from me. Again, I hope you enjoyed, and thank you so much for reading!


	4. The Gap

_How To Be Yourself When You're Not Yourself_

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By: plus2-minus1-brilliance

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Chapter Four - The Gap

:::

Leonardo and Donatello had told him to get some rest, but Michelangelo was having trouble doing this. Sure, he was exhausted, but…how the hell was he supposed to sleep when something so freaky was going on?

Sighing, he looked down at himself for what had to be the thousandth time. His frame was thin, and he could tell that his muscles had diminished somewhat. The skin that now covered his body was extremely pale - almost white. His brothers' skin had been that way, too, and he assumed it must be because none of them ever got any sun.

This gave Michelangelo an interesting thought: Now that they were human, maybe they could go walk around outside for a bit. Do all those normal, human things he'd seen on TV, and been jealous of. He made a mental note to ask Leo when they'd all finished their resting.

Michelangelo ran his now-five-fingered hand through his hair. He'd taken to doing it a lot in the last few hours, enjoying the feeling of soft hair between his fingers. He wondered if the others felt the same way with their hair. Donatello had looked annoyed at his shoulder-length mane, since it kept getting in his face. Leonardo didn't seem to care one way or the other about his curly locks. Raphael had seemed more interested in…well, a certain part of his anatomy that used to be less visible.

Michelangelo made another mental note to ask Leo about getting some clothes. Humans wore clothes. It felt awkward not to.

With another sigh, Michelangelo turned over onto his side and willed his brain to just shut off so he could rest. He certainly hoped the others weren't having this much trouble with it.

:::

When the four brothers finally came back together, it was evening of the following day.

Leonardo had actually gotten up in the early afternoon, but decided that none of his brothers would be of much use if they were still tired, so he let them sleep longer. He made tea and sat down at the kitchen table to drink it while he attempted to think up a plan of action.

Raphael had been the next to appear, looking grumpy (not that that was a big change). He grabbed a box of Honey Smacks from a cabinet and flumped down in a chair across from his older brother. Neither spoke, having nothing to say, and no energy to start a fight, which was what would most likely happen if they tried conversing.

Donatello and Michelangelo came in at the same time, each taking a seat on either side of their older brothers. Michelangelo had brought his blanket with him, holding it around himself like a toga. Raphael quirked an eyebrow at him in question and Michelangelo shrugged back in response. Raph nodded and held out the box of Honey Smacks to him.

"Thanks," Michelangelo muttered, taking a handful of the cereal.

"Yeah," Raph replied, switching the box to his other hand and holding it out to Donatello.

"No, thank you. I'm still feeling kind of queasy," Donatello replied, wrapping his arms around his stomach.

"Are you feeling well enough to start working?" Leonardo asked, worry clear in his voice. "It's okay if you're not. I know I still feel as though I could sleep for a week…"

"I'm not a hundred percent, but I can work," Donatello conceded.

"All right, get started as soon as you feel up to it."

"You should eat first," Raphael said. "Queasy or not, you haven't eaten for over twelve hours."

Donatello smiled at Raphael. Hot-tempered bad boy he may be, but he cared about his brothers.

"Do you think Master Splinter is hungry?" Michelangelo wondered.

The four of them looked over to where they'd put the rat. Before going to bed, Donatello and Michelangelo had constructed a sort of cage out of a square plastic container and its lid and some chicken wire. They'd given him a dishcloth to sleep on, and a dish of water (although Michelangelo suggested he might prefer tea), and placed the makeshift cage on the coffee table.

"Probably," Raphael answered. He got up, went to the cabinet, grabbed the Cheerios (Master Splinter's cereal of choice), went over to the cage, and poured a few into the base.

The others came over and watched as the rat poked his nose out from underneath the dishcloth, sniffed a bit, then scampered over to nibble on a Cheerio.

"Aww!" Michelangelo cooed. "He's so cute!"

The other three rolled their eyes, although they all secretly agreed with Mikey's assessment.

"Come on, we all should have a proper breakfast," Leonardo said after a bit. "Or, well, I guess it'd be dinner…"

They all went back to the kitchen, and Donatello got out bowls for each of them, while Raphael grabbed spoons, Leonardo got out the milk and apple juice, and Michelangelo grabbed the Froot Loops for himself, the Apple Jacks for Donatello, and the Honey Chex for Leonardo. Donatello also put on a pot of coffee.

Silence prevailed as they tucked into their breakfast-dinner, each keeping to his own thoughts. Then, after a few minutes of this, a frustrated growl came from Donatello. His brothers looked at him questioningly.

"Sorry," he said, smiling apologetically. "This stupid hair just keeps getting in my face. I need to get something to tie it back with…"

"I think your hair looks pretty cool, actually," said Raphael.

Donatello blinked at him. "Really?"

"Yeah," Raphael replied with a shrug.

"I like it, too," Michelangelo joined in. "I don't think any of us really got bad hair, though."

"I don't know…I never thought of myself as a curly haired individual. And I wouldn't have thought Donnie would have, no offense, girl hair," Leonardo commented, pulling at one of his curls.

"Just because it's long doesn't make it girly! _Casey_ has long hair," Donatello argued.

"Yeah, but your hair's not girly cos it's long, is it? It's just…kinda girly," Michelangelo explained.

"Don't take it the wrong way, bro," Raphael said. "It looks good on you."

"Oh that's great! Girly hair suits me. That's just great," Donatello pouted.

Michelangelo giggled. "Guess that means we'll be getting you a dress when we go out!"

"What do you mean, "when we go out"? Who said we were going anywhere?" Leonardo asked, frowning at his littlest brother.

"Oh, well…I just thought that since we were human now, we should get something to wear. I mean, Donnie said it would take a while to get back to normal, and I don't wanna be naked the whole time. It's _weird_."

"He's got a point," Donatello said. "If nothing else, it's rather drafty."

Leonardo frowned in thought, his brothers watching him intently, waiting for the verdict. Finally, Leonardo decided, "You're right, we should get some clothing."

"Yes!" Michelangelo cheered, pumping a fist in the air.

"The problem is," Leonardo continued, "how do we go get clothes without first having clothes to go get clothes in?"

They all paused and thought for a moment.

"Well…I've got my trench coat," Raphael finally stated. "For when I go out with Casey, you know?"

"That's good for you, but we can't all wear your trench coat," Michelangelo stated wryly.

"Then I guess only one person can go," Raphael retorted.

"Aww, that's not fair! I wanna go out!" Michelangelo whined.

"No one is going out alone," ruled Leonardo. "Not in our weakened state - it's too dangerous."

Donatello snorted. "Well, Mikey does have his blanket - we can make a little dress out of it for him."

Michelangelo sneered back, then brightened. "Dudes! We've totally forgotten!"

"Forgotten what?" Leonardo asked.

"Master Splinter's robe! It would totally fit me now that I'm all small and stuff!" Michelangelo beamed at his brilliant thought.

"So…does that mean we're sending out Raph and Mikey to get us all clothes? Talk about dangerous, they really would get me a dress!" Donatello pouted some more.

"But you'd look so cute!" Michelangelo teased.

Leonardo sighed. "No dresses! Just get jeans and tee shirts, okay? And go to the store and back, nothing more, got it?"

"Why? We're human now, just like everyone else!" Michelangelo reasoned.

"There and back!" Leonardo repeated forcefully. "We don't need any trouble."

Michelangelo pouted. "Fine, there and back."

Once they'd finished their meal, Michelangelo went to put on Master Splinter's robe, and Raphael his trench coat. After promising Leonardo a few more times that they wouldn't do anything but go straight to the store and come straight back (and that they'd not purchase any dresses), the two brothers set out on their way.

Halfway to the "exit" from the sewers, Michelangelo stopped.

"What's up?" Raphael asked, stopping as well.

"Are there any clothing stores open still? It's, like, nearly midnight…" Michelangelo asked.

"Oh…" Raphael replied. "I was figurin' we'd just do what we normally do - sneak in, leave cash, and sneak out."

"Yeah, that'd probably be best anyway. I _so_ don't want the first time people see me to be in this ratty old robe," Michelangelo said, then paused again, before bursting out laughing. "Ratty robe! Haha! Get it?"

Raphael rolled his eyes, shook his head, and started walking again. Michelangelo followed, still chuckling.

When they got to the surface, it was to discover that no one was about this late at night in this area. They'd chosen to come up a ways before the actual store they planned to sneak into so that they could at least do a bit of walking in the world of humans.

"You think maybe Leo will let us do human stuff later? I mean…it's not like we won't have the time, according to Donnie, right?" Michelangelo questioned, trying to look everywhere at once. He'd never seen the City from this angle before, after all.

"Probably not, but I'm not gonna let that stop me," Raphael replied. "He doesn't own us, you know."

"I know he doesn't own us, but he does usually know what's best," Michelangelo said, frowning a bit.

Raphael didn't respond, just looked straight ahead. He wasn't an idiot - he knew some of the things he did weren't the best idea. That's sort of _why_ he did them. Of course, it could have been argued that doing the wrong thing even when you knew it was wrong, actually did make you an idiot. Raphael decided he just didn't care, one way or the other.

"Okay, I was trying not to mention it, but ow! Please let us get shoes, too, cos this gravel is killing my feet," Michelangelo said.

"Yeah, I agree. If we've got enough money, we'll get shoes."

"Do you feel like you're about to tip over all the time, too? And weak, like your legs are just gonna give out if you keep walking?"

Raphael just nodded.

"So far, being a human is just kinda painful and hard…hope it gets easier."

"It should, we just gotta get used to these new bodies. Now where do you wanna go? There's a couple of clothes stores along this street."

As he said this, they passed by a group of guys, around their age, who, as soon as they'd gone by, started laughing. Raphael fought the urge to turn around and kick their asses, mostly because he was just too tired. Michelangelo pouted, but otherwise ignored the situation.

"I dunno," he said with a shrug, looking from store to store. "There's a Gap…" he suggested.

"Gap it is, then," Raphael said, not really caring at this point.

They turned down the alley closest to the Gap, going around to the back of the store. Their plan, as it usually was, was to climb up to the roof, and enter from there. Normally, this was no problem for them, since they were trained as ninjas, but now…

"Oh, good, they've got one of those ladder thingies!" Michelangelo said, relief clear in his words. No way was he able to do any fancy jumping and flipping right now.

They found out that it was a lot easier getting through the ventilation shaft in their thinner human forms, although getting out proved painful. Both boys ended up on their butts when they'd each attempted to drop down onto their feet.

"When we get home, I'm not moving for a month!" Michelangelo groused.

"Hear, hear," Raphael concurred. "Come on, let's get what we need and get out."

"This is so exciting!" Michelangelo said, getting up and walking over to the nearest clothing rack, which was full of Men's sweaters. "I have no idea what to get, though! So much to choose from…"

"Well, you heard Leo, 'jeans and tee shirts'," Raphael said, rolling his eyes. He walked over to a display of jeans and started looking through them.

"Hey, do skirts count as dresses?" Michelangelo asked, having found a rack of said garment.

Raphael laughed. "Yeah, I think they'd count."

"Pity, Donnie would look ever so cute in this one," Michelangelo said, holding up a light blue, knee-length skirt.

Raphael laughed again and shook his head. "Come on, be serious. Help me pick out jeans. Geez, how many different types are there?"

"Oh, oh! I want skinny jeans! It's what all the skateboarders are wearing this season." Michelangelo practically bounced over to find a pair.

"Oh, yeah? Been watching fashion shows again?" Raphael mocked.

Michelangelo rolled his eyes. "Of course not, I've been watching shows where people skateboard."

"Right, whatever. I don't tend to pay attention to what the boys are wearing, so you'll forgive me."

"Well, for you, I'd suggest either skinny jeans, or boot cut jeans. Here, like these!" Michelangelo held up a pair of the boot cut jeans for Raphael to see.

"Yeah, I guess those are cool," he said, and then proceeded to try them on, right then and there. "A little loose."

"So get a smaller size." Michelangelo had finally tracked down the skinny jeans, and was going through them. "Do I want to get dark blue, faded blue, or gray?"

"How the hell should I know?" Raphael responded, finding a size smaller and trying them on.

"Just thought you might have an opinion," Michelangelo muttered, choosing a pair that was faded blue and slipping into them.

"Man, this feels weird," Raphael said, walking around a bit in his chosen jeans, now in the proper size. He'd taken off his trench coat, and was headed towards the area dedicated to Men's tees.

"It does…interesting weird, though, not bad weird," Michelangelo agreed. "What do you think? Do these look cool on me?"

Raphael turned back to look at his little brother. "You'd look cooler without the robe, but yeah. Just like a real skateboarder."

"Thanks!" Michelangelo removed the robe and walked over to join Raph in the tees section.

Raphael, meanwhile, had found just a plain black, long-sleeved tee, and was pulling it on. "There, I'm done."

"Really? You've barely looked at anything!"

"Yeah, well, I'm tired. I don't really feel like looking at every single shirt in the place."

"All right, that's fine. You look cool in that, anyway."

"Thanks. I'm gonna go start looking at shoes; come find me when you've got a shirt, and we'll pick something out of Donnie and Leo."

"Okay."

It was nearly another twenty minutes before Michelangelo joined his brother over in the shoe section. He had chosen a white tee that had a crazy design that looked like it'd been done in crayon. He was also carrying another shirt, which he held up for Raph to see.

"For Donnie!" he said by way of explanation.

The shirt had wide horizontal stripes in alternating purple and silver, with short sleeves and a v-neck. It was also, quite plainly, a Women's shirt.

Raphael smirked. "He's going to kill you, you know."

"Yeah, but, come on! It's totally him, right?" Michelangelo beamed.

"Well, it'll look good with his hair, at least," Raphael said with a chuckle.

"Exactly! Have you found shoes?"

"I found some cool boots, but they're really expensive. It seems the only shoes we can afford here are those flip-flops over there," Raph pointed to a stand that had numerous pairs of flip-flops hanging from it.

"Well, they're cool enough. I mean, I was hoping for some Converse or Vans or something, but…well, it's not like we're gonna be able to wear them when we turn back anyway…"

"True."

So they went over to the stand and picked out a pair each for themselves and their two brothers. Raphael picked an all black pair for himself, while Michelangelo picked a pair that was bright green. For Leo, they found a brown pair ("Matches his hair," Raph reasoned), and for Donatello, a purple pair ("To match his shirt," Michelangelo said, and they both chuckled some more).

They went back to the pants section after that, and decided that Leonardo seemed like a khaki kind of guy. But, just as they were debating over size, they saw something that no one breaking and entering ever wanted to see.

Blue and red flashing lights.

"Fuck, it's the cops!" Raphael stated, ducking quickly behind the nearest rack.

"What are we gonna do?" Michelangelo asked, following suit and looking scared.

"Just stay calm - maybe they're here for the store across the street, or something," Raphael reasoned, though he sounded nervous.

They stayed where they were, holding their breath, staring out at the two police cars that had shown up, waiting for something to happen. Praying the cops weren't there for them.

Luck, it appeared, was not on their side, as three policemen got out of their vehicles and started walking towards the Gap. They watched in horror as each of them pulled out a gun, and one cop circled around to the back of the store, cutting off that exit. Their only hope now, they knew, was to get back into the ventilation shaft.

"We can't make it without being seen," Michelangelo whispered frantically. "We're gonna get caught and thrown in jail!"

"Even if they see us, they still have to catch us…" Raphael whispered back.

"Oh, come on! We can barely climb a ladder, we are not gonna be able to outrun the cops! Plus, in case you've failed to notice, _they have guns!_"

"Yeah, I noticed…Fuck!"

"What if we gave ourselves in? I mean…we're not _really_ doing anything _too_ illegal, right? Cos we're gonna pay. Paying for stuff's not illegal!"

"Freeze!" said a booming voice from behind them.

The two former-turtles turned to see the cop that'd gone around back pointing his gun at them. In their arguing, they'd failed to hear him enter the building. Raphael cursed again, and Michelangelo put his hands up, dropping the flip-flops and shirt he'd been holding.

"Don't shoot me, I'm innocent!" Michelangelo cried.

Raphael couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Shut up, Mikey," he whispered to his frightened little brother.

"A couple of punks, huh?" said the cop, glaring down at them.

"Look, officer," Raph began, trying his best not to sound indignant, "we're not stealing, we've got money."

"Oh yeah, I'm really gonna believe that," the cop answered sarcastically. He then took one hand off the gun, and pressed the button on his radio. "Two male suspects, as sighted; unknown if armed," he said into it.

"We're not armed, we promise!" Michelangelo said, whimpering a little.

The two cops who'd been watching the front door now entered through it. Raphael could see the store's manager outside, looking extremely nervous.

"So what've we got here, Teddy?" one of the front-door cops said.

"Couple of punks," said Teddy, the first cop.

Raphael sighed - how cliché these officers seemed. "I hate to interrupt your assessment of us, but really, we're just trying to buy some clothes."

"Oh yeah?" said the third cop. "Then why break in? They have store hours for a reason, punk!"

"I'm sorry! We were just desperate! All we had was a robe and coat, see, over there!" Michelangelo said, now practically crying, pointing over to where they'd dropped their old garments.

"And," Raphael added, giving Michelangelo a look, "you'll find the money I mentioned earlier in the pocket of the coat."

"You mean the money you stole from the register?" said cop number two.

"No, the money I brought from home. We're not thieves," Raphael explained. It was getting harder to stay calm. He would give anything to just knock these three jerks unconscious and run for it.

Cop number three had gone over to collect the robe and coat, and checked the pockets of the latter. "He's right, looks like there's about a hundred dollars here."

"That we _earned_," Raphael intoned.

"Steve, go check the registers, willya? The safe, too, and get the manager in here to count the money," Teddy told cop number three.

Raphael sighed in frustration and sat down, cross-legged, to wait, causing cop number two to wave his gun threateningly at him. Raphael just rolled his eyes and put his hands in the air sarcastically. Michelangelo whimpered again, moved a bit behind Raphael, and sat down as well.

It took the manager over an hour to count the money in each of the three registers and the safe.

"All the money is there," he said when he'd finally finished. "They've not stolen any of it."

"Told you," Raphael muttered.

"Shut up," Teddy sneered. "Just because you didn't steal it from here, doesn't mean it's not stolen.

"If you're going to arrest us, could you just get it fucking over with? I've had a long day," Raphael sneered back.

"Um, since they haven't actually stolen anything yet, I don't think you need to arrest them," said the manager meekly.

"We've still got them on breaking and entering, and suspicion of theft," Steve said.

"Yeah, we'll be taking them down to the station," Teddy said. "On your feet, you two!"

Michelangelo leapt to his feet immediately, but Raphael took his time.

"Hey," Raph said to the manager, "how much for what we've got on? Two jeans, two shirts, two flip-flops?"

"Oh, um…I…I'm not sure…" the manager babbled.

"Will fifty cover it?"

"Oh, no you don't! Get those clothes off, right now!" Teddy ordered.

Raphael quirked an eyebrow at Teddy and smirked evilly. "Like watching boys strip, do you?" he said, running a hand up his stomach, pulling up the fabric of the shirt to reveal the skin there.

Teddy growled, looking like he wanted to punch Raphael very hard. Multiple times. With his gun.

"Raph! Stop pissing them off!" Michelangelo said, punching Raphael in the arm himself.

"Fine, fine," Raph said, pulling the shirt off and tossing it on the ground, then doing the same with the jeans. He smirked victoriously as the three cops glanced away embarrassedly, none of them expecting him to be going commando.

Michelangelo pulled off his own clothes more slowly, doing his best to stay behind Raphael so the cops couldn't see him. Never before had he had to go through anything as embarrassing as this.

"Wanna toss me my coat, there, buddy?" Raphael said to Steve. Steve glared, but did as he was asked, also tossing over the robe.

Once the two were redressed, Teddy and cop three came over and handcuffed them, then lead them out of the shop to the police cruisers. Michelangelo noticed, mortified, that a crowd of people had gathered across the street and were watching interestedly as the cops shoved him and his brother into the back of one of the vehicles.

"Leo is gonna be so pissed…" he muttered as Steve slammed the door shut in his face.

:::

Author's Note: Ta da! Chapter four, all nice and pretty. Whatcha think? Sorry if the bit with the cops doesn't seem very cop-like. I've only dealt with cops once and I wasn't arrested when it happened. I do watch _Law & Order: SVU_ sometimes, though, and lots of _CSI_. Anyway, I hope it's okay. And I hope that the turtles seem more or less in character.

Also, I forgot last time to apologize for the long wait between chapters two and three. I got distracted by lots of other fandoms and such, starting with PotC, and going through _The Mighty Boosh_, _Power Rangers_, _Harry Potter, The Big Fat Quiz of the Year_…and many others. Plus, I've been studying medical coding, which takes up some time. Trust me when I say I'd much rather be writing.

Wow, I just noticed how long this chapter is! Too long, do you think? Let me know about that, and all your other thoughts in a review, please! And thanks once more for reading! All those who've reviewed and added the story (or me) to their alerts…you're awesome! I love you all so much!

P.S. - Do you think the huge-ass warning at the beginning of the first two chapters might be scaring people away? Should I perhaps move it down to the end of chapter one and leave it at that? Your opinions counts!


	5. Sad Ninjas

_How To Be Yourself When You're Not Yourself_

:::

By: plus2-minus1-brilliance

:::

Chapter Five - Sad Ninjas

:::

Leonardo was not happy. He shouldn't have sent Raph and Mikey out by themselves. He'd known that from minute one, but he'd let them go anyway, because they'd both seemed so eager. And now, three hours later, he was cursing his soft side. Cursing himself for believing them when they'd promised to behave. Leonardo should have known better.

"Where the hell are they?" he asked Donatello anxiously as he paced back and forth in front of the coffee table.

Donatello, who'd been curled up on the couch dozing, lifted his head to look at his eldest brother. "I'm sure they're fine…just wandering around the City…checking out the sights…" he mumbled sleepily.

"They _promised_!" Leonardo said.

"Hmm…" was all Donatello could manage.

Leonardo made a noise that was somewhere between a growl and an exasperated sigh and plopped down on the opposite end of the couch from Donatello.

"They'd better be home soon…" he said, his tone hinting strongly that Raphael and Michelangelo would wish they'd never even heard of home when they finally got back.

:::

From the time he'd been dragged into the police cruiser to now, nearly four hours later, Michelangelo had gone from scared to annoyed to pretty pissed off and was now settling on just too tired to care.

When they'd arrived at the Police Station, Steve the cop had sat them down at his desk, and then disappeared with the other two. Raphael had muttered something about stupid, cliché police tactics, and then had proceeded to glare at everything and everyone that passed into his vision for the next few hours.

Michelangelo had seen Steve, Teddy, and the other one (who'd he'd figured out was named Peter) wandering around, seemingly aimlessly. He even thought he'd noticed them laughing at him and Raph. Mentioning this to his brother, Raphael had just snorted and said they were "fucking assholes." Michelangelo had spent the next half hour or so contemplating that phrase.

"This is bullshit," Raphael said suddenly. "We could report them for this."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure the police chief would just love to hear from arrestees how poor the service here is," Michelangelo retorted.

"You forget, we're innocent," Raphael snapped back.

"Can _you_ prove it?" Michelangelo asked.

Raphael didn't reply, just went back to glaring at a potted plant in a corner of the office. Michelangelo huffed, crossed his arms, and glared at his bare feet. At some point during their wait, he'd checked his feet, and they actually had a few little cuts on them from the gravel. Stupid police officers, couldn't even have let them keep the shoes…

"Enjoying your wait?" asked Steve, sitting down at the desk they'd been sat next to. He was smiling smugly.

"Well, I wouldn't have said no to a drink, but other than that," Raphael said, false sweetness in his voice.

"Don't get fresh with me, son," Steve said, pointing a finger threateningly at him. "I've got some questions for you."

"Thrilling," Michelangelo muttered. He was beyond caring if he upset the police - they'd upset him enough to deserve a little payback.

Steve glared, but otherwise ignored the comment. "First, state your names."

"Raphael."

"Michelangelo."

Steve gave them a look. "Your _real_ name, son," he said to Michelangelo.

"That _is_ my real name. The name my father gave me. Doesn't _get_ more real than this."

"Fine. Last names?"

"Um…what is it Raph?" Michelangelo turned to Raphael, who just shrugged. "It's on the tip of my tongue, really…Something about ham? Ham and tomatoes…Oh! Hamato! Our last name is Hamato."

"You guys don't look Chinese to me," Steve said.

Raphael rolled his eyes _again_. "It's Japanese," he said, sounding for all the world like he would have loved to add "you dick" to the end of the statement.

Steve just gave him a look that said, quite sarcastically, "I care, really," before asking, "So you're saying you're brothers?"

"Yup, since birth. At least, we think," Michelangelo amended. They really never had figured out if they were _really_ related.

"You think?"

"We're adopted," Raphael said.

"Ages?"

"We're both sixteen," responded Michelangelo.

"What's your address?"

Again, Raphael and Michelangelo exchanged a glance, this time both of them shrugging.

"We don't have one?" Michelangelo finally said, unsure.

"Homeless?"

"In a manner of speaking," Michelangelo confirmed.

"That would explain the wardrobe," Steve said, smirking. "So where'd you get the money?"

"We earned it," Raphael said. "We told you that already."

"Earned it how?"

"Odd jobs. We have a brother that does tech support, and we help our friends with things sometimes and they pay us for it," Michelangelo answered.

"Tech support?" Steve sounded very suspicious.

"Yeah, you know, helps people with their computer problems. He's super smart."

"I'm sure…"

"Let me guess," interjected Raph, "you were expecting us to say 'drug dealing' or 'hustling'? Maybe 'selling stolen goods'?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Especially considering we caught you stealing."

"But we weren't stealing! We were just shopping at an inopportune time! We fully planned to leave money for the goods received, all right!" Michelangelo practically shouted.

"No, it's not all right," Steve said with a hard glare. "You broke the law, and that's never okay."

"All you've got is breaking and entering, and if the manager doesn't press charges, you've got nothin'," Raphael stated, crossing his arms defiantly.

Steve glared some more. "What's your phone number?"

"We just told we're homeless, what makes you think we've got a phone?" Raphael asked with an eye roll.

"Why would you need that, anyway?" Michelangelo asked nervously.

"So I can call your parents to come get you," was the terse reply.

"Oh, um…our dad is, um…out of town?" Michelangelo tried.

"Really?" asked Steve. "Now why do I get the feeling you're lying?"

"I couldn't say," Michelangelo said.

"What's your father's name?"

"Hamato Yoshi," Raphael replied.

"I thought you said Hamato was your last name?"

"It is."

"Then don't you mean Yoshi Hamato?"

"No."

"Don't get smart with me!"

"I'm not."

"What he _means_," cut in Michelangelo, before the cop tried to hit Raphael, "is that, in Japanese, last names go first. So that's how he says his name, which means that's how we say it."

"Right, well, you just sit tight while I look into this," Steve said, getting up and walking away.

"…Well that could have gone better," Michelangelo said conversationally. "Such a pleasant man, don't you agree?"

Raphael glared at him for a second, but then stopped when he noticed Michelangelo looked close to tears. He sighed deeply.

"We are so fucked."

"You think? He's not gonna find anything on Hamato Yoshi, since Hamato Yoshi doesn't technically exist in America…"

"And then they'll think we're lying."

"…We kind of are."

"Yeah, and what's gonna happen when they figure that out?"

"I dunno…don't suppose the answer is 'let us go'?"

"No, Mikey, I don't think it is."

"But they can't just keep us here for the rest of our lives…right? I mean, they can't put us in jail for lying, can they?"

Raphael shrugged. "Not for more than a day."

"But they can't prove we committed any crimes, so they can't keep us for that, right?"

"Right."

"So then they have to just let us go!"

"One would hope."

"Ugh…this is so bogus."

:::

"They're still not home, then?" Donatello asked, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. He looked over at his eldest brother, who was sitting stiffly on the couch, arms crossed, glaring at the television as if it had deeply insulted him.

"No," Leonardo replied stonily. "Seven hours, and they're still gone."

"…Do you think they're in trouble?"

Leonardo shrugged. He had originally believed that they'd just taken off to tour New York City, and so had just been angry at them. But after a while, he'd reasoned with himself that as mischievous as the two brothers could be, they weren't stupid, and they wouldn't push their luck that much. So worry had set in, and thoughts of all the terrible things that could have happened to them crossed through his brain.

Now he truly hoped it was just them goofing off.

:::

Two more hours passed, and Raphael could see out a distant window that the sun had fully risen. He honestly couldn't remember ever being up at this time of day. So maybe he was really asleep right now, and this whole fiasco was just a dream…

"Leo and Donnie are pro'lly freaking out…" Michelangelo said quietly, then stifled a yawn.

"Only about you. They're actually starting plans for the 'Raph's Finally Gone' party, which will commence just as soon as you get back home."

Michelangelo snorted. "Can I get your room?"

"Sure. As long as Leo don't get it."

"I wonder if they'll send out a search party for me…Get Casey and April, scour the City…Ya think?"

"Definitely. Shame you technically don't exist, or they could come here to report you missing and find you."

"Yeah, shame. That'd just be so ironic…We'd all have a nice laugh, and the whole situation would be just a funny story for future generations."

"Yeah…" Raphael agreed, trying to muster up a bit of a chuckle now. Any chances of one left him, though, as he saw their friendly neighborhood cop walking back over to them "Oh, goody, here comes Steve…"

"According to my sources," Steve began, a smug smile on his lips, "there is no such person as Hamato Yoshi."

"I'm sorry, did we forget to mention he's an illegal alien?" Michelangelo asked, mock worry taking over his features. "How silly of us!"

Peter glared. "Since there's no record of your supposed father, and since you don't seem willing to cooperate and tell us the truth, we have no choice but to hand you over to Child Services."

"Whoa, what? Child Services? Just let us go home, you bastard!" Raphael fumed, standing suddenly.

Peter stood as well, and grabbed for his baton. "Sit back down!" he ordered.

"I've been sitting for seven fucking hours, asshole! And that's it, I'm going home, just try and stop me! C'mon Mikey!"

Raphael grabbed Michelangelo by the arm and dragged him out of his seat. They got all of ten steps before five police officers surrounded them, including Teddy and Peter.

"Don't do anything stupid, boy," Peter said.

Raphael growled angrily, sizing up each opponent. He was tired, weak, and a little uncoordinated, but he was also pissed off. He could take them…

"Raph, please don't! They'll win and we'll get thrown in jail for _sure_," Michelangelo pleaded.

"Mikey, we're fucking ninjas!" Raphael spat back.

"Yes, but I'm a physically and emotionally drained ninja who's about to start crying! _Please_, let's just do what they want."

Raphael glanced around once more at the policemen and women surrounding them. There were now about eleven of them, and most of them had their batons out now.

"Fine!" he growled out, turning around and going back to his seat.

Michelangelo breathed a sigh of relief and followed suit, smiling a little apologetically at some of the nicer looking officers. Steve sat back down as well, his smile, if anything, smugger.

"Good choice, boys," he said. "The Child Services Representative is on her way. Shouldn't be too much longer a wait."

"I hope you get stabbed brutally," Raphael told him, looking like he'd love to be the one with the knife.

"Temper, temper, now. I'll be sure to tell them to get you a psych evaluation," Steve said, and then walked away once more.

"If I see that man again, he's so fucking dead."

"Maybe you could use a psych evaluation…" Michelangelo muttered sulkily.

:::

"Leo, answer the phone, please?" Donatello called out to his eldest brother.

It was probably just Casey, calling for Raph (since Casey and April were the only people who ever called them), and he had no time to talk to anyone right now. His full attention was on trying to find a way to locate his missing brothers. Not that he was getting much of anywhere, of course.

Leonardo sighed. He'd been attempting to enter a meditative state for a good hour now, but it just wasn't working. Never in his life had he had so much trouble with it, save for maybe the first few times he'd tried, back when he was eight. Leonardo knew it was just because he wasn't used to his new body. Well, and the fact that he was scared for his brothers, but he wouldn't admit that bit to anyone but himself.

Getting up and going over to the payphone, Leonardo picked it up, alternating between hoping it was Raph and Mikey and trying not to get his hopes up.

"Yes?" he said into the receiver.

"Hi, this is Carol Watterman at Child Services; I'm calling for Mr. Hamato," said a very pleasant voice.

"…Why?" Leo did _not_ like the sound of this, pleasant voice or no.

"Is this him?"

"Yes it is, why are you calling me?"

"Your sons, Raphael and Michelangelo, were picked up by the police for breaking and entering, but weren't able to get any information on you, so they called me to pick them up."

Leonardo nearly dropped the phone in shock. They'd been _arrested_? This had to be a joke…Mikey had just gotten some women to call him and tell him that as a _joke_. His brothers were not in custody. They couldn't be…

"Please, _please_ tell me you're joking!" Leonardo begged.

"No, sir, this is not a joke," Carol said in that same pleasant voice, now taking on a soothing quality.

"One moment, please," Leonardo told her.

He placed the phone on top of the base, stepped to the side, and proceeded to bang his head into the wall a few times.

"Donnie," he called out.

"What?" Donnie called back.

"I've found them."

Leonardo ceased his banging, keeping his head leant against the wall, and picked the phone back up.

"Sorry about that, Ma'am. Now…can I talk to Raphael?"

:::

The people at Child Services had been a lot nicer than the police had, though still just as annoying. They hadn't had to wait long for Carol to arrive, and the drive to the building Child Services was located in had been fairly pleasant for what it was (Carol had even let Mikey choose the radio station).

Once sat at her desk, she'd proceeded to ask them all the same questions as the police had. Raphael just sat and glared at her throughout the process, so Michelangelo had had to answer everything for him. After the standard questions, she'd asked a few more in depth ones, a lot of which they'd had to lie about.

Michelangelo had then asked if he could call his father, but Carol had insisted that he give her the number so she could make the call. When asked why, she had answered that she needed to talk to their parent, to inform him what needed to be done. So they'd finally given her the number.

"You're father wants to speak with you," Carol said, holding the phone out to Raphael, who took it, frowning.

"Hey," Raphael said.

"The police? Child Services? What the hell happened?" Leonardo nearly yelled.

"We got caught, the police in New York City are assholes, and they sent us to Child Services. There wasn't anything we could do; Mikey didn't want to try fighting our way out -"

"Because we would have lost!" Michelangelo yelled for Leo to hear.

"- and the police wouldn't reason with us," Raphael finished as if Michelangelo hadn't interrupted.

Leonardo sighed into the phone. "Are you both okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine. Tired as fuck, and more annoyed than that, but fine. Mikey wants me to tell you we're sorry for worrying you."

"Tell him thanks. What happens now?"

"I dunno, you'd have to ask the lady."

"Well, put her back on. And Raph?"

"Yeah?"

"Try not to cause any more trouble, please?"

Raphael rolled his eyes, but simply replied, "Yeah," then handed the phone back to Carol.

:::

"Hello," Carol said into the phone, and Leo could tell from her voice that she was smiling.

"Hi," Leonardo replied. He'd lifted his head off the wall and was now rubbing his temples. Donatello had come out and was standing beside him, looking from Leonardo's face to the phone nervously. "What's going to happen now?"

"Well, now you would need to come pick up Raphael and Michelangelo, with proof of adoption."

"Proof? Like…paperwork?" Leonardo exchanged a nervous glance with Donatello.

"Exactly."

"And what if I don't have that proof?"

"Then I'm afraid we can't let them go home with you. They'd be sent to a group home and a court date would be set up where you could fight for custody."

"What if I lose that fight?"

"They would go back to the group home to await adoption."

Leonardo noticed Carol sounded less upbeat now, as if she could tell he had no way of getting Raph and Mikey back. He sorely wished she was wrong.

"Right…well…can I talk to Raph again?"

"Sure."

Leo heard the phone being exchanged, then, "What's the plan?"

"I'm not sure," Leonardo admitted. "I guess we're going to have to try to fake adoption papers, so…just sit tight, and we'll try to come up with something. Tell Mikey I love him, okay?"

"Yeah, I will. See ya."

"See you."

Raphael put the phone back in it's cradle, and turned first to Michelangelo.

"Dad say's he loves you," he said.

"Is he coming?" Michelangelo asked hopefully.

"He's gonna try." Raphael turned back to Carol. "Since we don't have a real home, we don't really have all those important papers anymore, you know?"

"I'm sorry," Carol replied, and she looked it. "I'm afraid if he doesn't come by five o'clock tonight, we'll have to bring you to the group home."

"Yeah…might as well bring us now," Raphael replied sullenly.

:::

"Fake adoption papers? I don't even know what they're supposed to look like!" Donatello said, panicked.

"Well try to find out! Break into the database or something," Leonardo replied. "I'm going to call April, see if she can bring us some clothes. Man, why didn't we just think of that before?"

"Mikey wouldn't have gone for it anyway, he was too excited to go out. But doesn't matter now, though; let's just concentrate on fixing this."

"Right, right, go…"

So Donatello went off to his lab once more, and Leonardo dialed April's number. Neither of them had much hope that they'd be successful.

:::

Author's Note: Finally! I had hoped to have this done by Tuesday, but I got stuck. Everything after Mikey's "psych evaluation" comment, therefore, probably sucks. Apologies! Also, I did change the author's notes in chapter's one and two, if you care.

_Please_ go read and review "Chaos Theory" by Plus2Brilliance (that's the one I'm co-writing with my sister, Akiko, Keeper of Sheep (who also writes really good TMNT fics, looker her up)! It's a really good fic, most likely even better than this one. And you really don't need to know much about Power Ranges!

I'm also really excited, as this is the first fic I've written to reach five chapters since a really old fic that has long since been removed from . And since it sucked so much, I don't tend to count it. So…woo! Chapter six, here I come!

Um, I guess that's all for now. Thanks again for reading, reviewing, and adding this story to your favorites and alerts! I love you all!


	6. And Not Much Else

_How To Be Yourself When You're Not Yourself_

:::

By: plus2-minus1-brilliance

:::

Chapter Six - And Not Much Else

:::

As she descended the ladder into the sewer, April's sense of unease grew. A nervous sounding Leonardo had called, asking to borrow some of Casey's clothes. When asked why, the blue-clad turtle had merely replied, "You'll see," in slightly disgruntled tone. So she'd grabbed the requested garments, pulled Casey away from his television show, and had hurried off.

"So he really didn't give you any hints?" Casey asked, steadying her as she reached the sewer floor.

"Nope, nothing. He sounded…irritated, though," April replied as she sidestepped some floating rubbish.

"Wonder what it'll be this time," Casey mused, "ninja gangs, evil scientists, other mutants…"

"Why can't they ever have a _normal_ problem? Like, their house flooded or something," April wondered, a pout forming on her lips as she tried to remember why she continued to associate with them.

"Did you miss the bit where they're mutant turtle ninjas?" Casey asked.

April sighed deeply. "Just pray that whatever it is, no one tries to kill us this time."

Casey laughed.

"I'm serious! I have had my fill of near-death experiences for the rest of my life. A life that I pray will be long, despite all evidence to the contrary."

"No, I don't doubt that, but you do love the excitement and danger. You _thrive_ on it. Otherwise, I doubt you would be friends with them; or me, for that matter…"

"Still…I think I'll take a vacation soon. Maybe the Bahamas?"

"Ooh, hot chicks in bikinis! I'm in." Casey waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

April rolled her eyes. "Who said you'd be invited?"

"Ouch!" Casey replied, looking a little hurt. "C'mon, you know you'd miss me."

"We'll see. Depends on just what the boys get us into this time."

As she said this, they reached the door to the Lair and so, let themselves in. It was unusually quiet, and neither human could see anyone about.

"Hello?" April called out, walking further in. "Leo, we're here!"

"Hey guys; thanks for coming so quickly," came Leonardo's voice.

April and Casey looked towards where the voice had come from. April gasped in shock, taking a step back. Casey stepped in front of her, getting into an attack position, ready to strike down…whoever that was.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" he asked, glaring at the strange boy, who was naked, save for a towel that he had wrapped around his waist.

The someone sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's me, guys, Leonardo."

"Uh, no…Leonardo is a giant turtle," Casey said, now looking a little confused, but not breaking his stance.

"Yeah, well, not anymore." Leonardo knew he really should explain the situation to them, but he was just too tired, and had too much on his mind. "Did you bring the clothes?" He walked slowly over to them, stopping just out of Casey's reach. If the older man tried something, he wanted to be able to get out of the way. In this new form, there was no way he could take Casey on.

April stepped around her boyfriend and stopped right in front of Leonardo, hands on her hips, squinting at him. "If you're really Leo, tell me something only he would know."

Leonardo rolled his eyes. "If it's something only I know, then you wouldn't know it, and therefore, it would be a waste of time to tell you."

April blinked and stepped back a bit, still staring at the young man before her. "I don't believe it…"

"What?" Casey asked, looking even more confused. "Is it really Leo?"

"It is! Leo, how did this happen?"

"Long story short, there was a mix-up in the lab - Donnie can explain it better. So _did_ you bring the clothes?"

"Oh, yes, of course!" April said, handing over the tote bag she'd been carrying. "Two pairs of jeans, two tee shirts, and two pairs of boxers. I hope they fit all right…Guess this explains why you need them…Have only two of you turned human? Where is everyone else, anyway?"

Leonardo sighed again. "No, it's all of us that turned. Donnie's in his lab, trying to find a way to fake adoption papers, and Raph and Mikey are in the custody of Child Services. Master Splinter is in that cage on the coffee table."

"_What?_" April and Casey exclaimed simultaneously.

Slightly ignoring them, Leonardo started looking through the clothes April had brought. He pulled out one of the tee shirts, a plain white one, and slipped it on. The shirt was loose, of course, but he expected that.

"Leo, you've got to tell us more! How did this happen? Why didn't you call us sooner? Do you -" April began, but was cut off when a frustrated yell came from the direction of Donnie's lab.

Leonardo sighed as he slipped on a pair of boxers on under the towel. "Guess Don's not having any luck…"

"Why do you need adoption papers, anyway?" Casey asked, looking away as Leonardo removed the towel to put on a pair of blue jeans.

"To get Mikey and Raph back from Child Services, right?" answered April.

"Yeah, although I'm not sure what good they'll do, since Hamato Yoshi is the one who needs to present them. Don't suppose you know any old Japanese guys that owe you a favor?" Leonardo asked with a bit of a smirk.

Casey and April just shook their heads, each trying to make sense of this new bit of weirdness in their lives.

"Huh…" Leonardo said, having to hold the jeans up for their looseness. "Maybe we should have asked for some of your clothes instead, April."

:::

At five o'clock on the dot, Carol had put them in the car and taken them on an hour-long car ride to the group home. It wasn't a bad looking place, having a large yard, two stories, and a wraparound porch. A large sign over the door told them they were at St. Bernard's Home for Boys.

At the door, they were introduced to the director of the home, Mr. Richardson. He was a middle-aged gentleman, hair just starting to gray, with a kind smile. Carol had shaken his hand, and then got back in her car and left, wishing Michelangelo and Raphael good luck.

They had then been taken into the office, told the rules, introduced to a few caretakers, and were given two pairs of clothes each. Currently, Mr. Richardson was giving them a short tour of the place.

"And here is where you'll be sleeping," said Mr. Richardson, pushing open a door.

It was a decent sized room that held six beds, each with a night stand, but not much else. There were two other boys in this room - they were playing some sort of card game on one of the beds. Both looked up to see the new arrivals, though.

"Well, that's everything," Mr. Richardson said, turning to them with a smile. "Any questions?"

Raphael and Michelangelo just shook their heads.

"Very good. I'll let you get settled in, then. You've missed dinner, but if you're hungry, head down to the kitchen before eight and the cook should be able to fix you up something. All right?"

"Um, yeah, thanks," Michelangelo said, trying to muster up a smile of his own and failing.

Mr. Richardson left, closing the door behind him. Michelangelo and Raphael exchanged a look with each other before turning their gazes upon the other two boys in the room, who had gone back to their card game.

"Hey," Raphael called to them.

"Hey," replied on of the boys, not looking up from his cards, but pointing to one side of the room. "Those two beds over there are free."

"Thanks," Raphael said, going over to one of the beds mentioned.

Michelangelo followed, dropping his new clothes on the bed. "I _am_ hungry, Raph. Can we go get dinner?"

"Let's get changed first, okay? Then we can go get as much dinner as we can find, cook be damned," was Raphael's reply.

"Don't start trouble here, Raph! Please? Leo and Donnie will come up with something, and then we'll go home, all right?" Michelangelo pleaded.

Raphael rolled his eyes, but nodded anyway, not wanting to upset Michelangelo further; he felt guilty enough as it was.

"You brothers, or somethin'?" asked the boy who has spoke earlier.

"Yeah, what's it to ya?" Raphael answered.

The boy shrugged. "You're gonna have a bitch of time gettin' adopted."

"We don't need to get adopted," Michelangelo spoke up. "We already have a home and a family. We just can't prove it."

"I'm Jake, by the way. And this is Bobby," he pointed to the other boy, who just waved. "He doesn't talk."

"I'm Michelangelo, and this is Raphael. Nice to meet you, I guess."

Jake snorted. "Yeah, a real pleasure." And he went back to playing cards with Bobby.

:::

"Well, I can't do it. It's impossible. Mikey and Raph are just screwed," Donatello said, turning off the screen of his computer.

He'd been sitting there for nearly seven hours - he was hungry, tired, sore all over, and very upset. At some point, Leonardo, Casey, and April had come in to bring him clothes and ask him about the anti-mutagen; he'd taken a very short break to change and explain the situation to them. Every so often after that, one of them would return to check on his progress and bring him more coffee. Now, they were all in the room, and all looking very nervous.

"You're sure you tried everything?" Leonardo asked.

"As sure as," replied Donatello.

"We can't just leave them there!" April exclaimed.

"Of course we're not going to leave them," Leonardo said, glaring at her for even thinking they might.

"So then what are we gonna do?" asked Casey.

"The only other thing we can do. We're going to break them out," Leonardo said, a certain gleam in his eyes.

Donatello looked back with trepidation. April frowned but nodded. Casey grinned.

"This is gonna be good."

:::

Author's Note: No way! An update? Really, truly? It can't be! But it is. Woo! Ahem. Seriously, I am so sorry for the wait. I got horribly stuck! I tried and tried and tried, but got nowhere. It was a sad time. But now I've gotten somewhere, and it's much happier! Unfortunately, it's quite a bit shorter than the last two chapters. Sorry!

I make no promises or assumptions about when chapter seven will be out. It could be tomorrow, it could be five months from now. You just never know. I, of course, pray for closer to tomorrow.

Anyway, I hope you love it. Please review! Thanks to everyone who already has, and to all the people who put me on either their alerts or favorites lists (if you're one of those people, and haven't already, I'd really appreciate _your_ review. Pretty please with caramel filled chocolate turtles on top?) You rock!


	7. When Life Gives You Aglets

_How To Be Yourself When You're Not Yourself_

:::

By: plus2-minus1-brilliance

:::

Chapter Seven - When Life Gives You Aglets…

:::

"Meanwhile, back at the Chinese sneaker factory, Raph had gotten a raise - he now got a _whole_ stale biscuit with his rainwater. He had steadily climbed that corporate ladder in the last week, mostly by trampling on the Nigerian orphans working the aglet lines. It was okay, though, because who really cares about aglets, anyway."

Three boys looked up from the comic in front of them, into the beaming face of Michelangelo. Raphael smiled and shook his head - his littlest brother could make any situation amusing. Jake quirked an eyebrow, but smirked nonetheless. He'd really grown to like Michelangelo in the past four days, even if he didn't always understand him. Bobby mostly just looked confused.

"I like it," Jake commented. "Especially that giant turtle-thing in the background, there. It adds, uh…whimsy."

"Yeah, it's really cool," Raphael agreed. "Fantastic job, as always."

Bobby pointed to the last square, which showed the human Raphael standing over the Nigerian orphans, pointing and laughing haughtily. Bobby's finger landed on the word 'aglet', and then he shrugged.

"Oh, he wants to know what an aglet is. I'm a little curious myself, actually," Jake said.

"It's that little plastic bit at the end of a shoelace," Michelangelo replied, matter-of-factly.

"There ya go, Bobby; we've learned somethin' new today."

Bobby nodded and smiled, giving Michelangelo a thumbs up.

"Thanks, Bobby!" Michelangelo beamed some more, glad everyone liked his comic. Sure he was miserable here, and couldn't wait to be home with the rest of his family, but he wasn't going to let it get him down. With that in mind, Michelangelo tried to view this situation as just a new experience - an adventure, if you will.

Raphael, on the other hand, was having trouble thinking of it any way other than being imprisoned. As the days went by, he had less and less faith that Leonardo and Donatello could do anything to get them out. Not that he dared say that to Michelangelo - it would utterly crush him. And because he couldn't show lack of faith in Leo and Donnie, there was no way he could suggest they break out on their own.

And so, they waited. They woke up every morning, went to 'school', ate their meals, whiled away their free time, and went to bed. Other boys came and went, prospective parents came in to look at them, but Raphael and Michelangelo just waited. For their brothers, for their court date, for _anything_.

:::

Donatello slammed the phone down and let out a frustrated growl. Having worked in tech support, he was used to the fact that some people were just incompetent, but this was getting ridiculous. So far, he'd talked to five different Child Services Representatives, eight different group home directors, three police officers, and one very confused Dominoes employee.

No one was able to give him any information on his brothers' whereabouts. He did, however, get a free medium two-topping pizza when the Dominoes girl felt sorry for him.

A very simple plan had been concocted to get Michelangelo and Raphael out of the group home. Sneak in when everyone was sleeping, grab them, and sneak back out, heading for the nearest sewer entrance. Quite an easy feat for trained ninjas such as themselves.

To get to that part, however, they first had to locate which home the boys were in. Calling people had got them nowhere. Casey's suggestion to just go around to all the different homes was shot down before it even got off the ground.

"No one will let us see any of the children until we've gone through a mountain of paperwork and a background check," April had informed him.

"So we don't let 'em know we're there! I mean, we're planning on sneaking in to get them anyway, right?" Casey had argued.

Leo had stopped any further argument by telling them it just wasn't worth the risk, especially if they got caught in the wrong house.

Donatello walked over to the couch and sank onto it, bringing his legs up to rest on the coffee table next to Master Splinter's cage. The rat scurried over to that side, sticking his little nose out to explore this new smell. Donatello smiled at this - his father really was rather adorable.

With a melancholy sigh, Donatello leaned his head back and shut his eyes. All the stress of suddenly becoming human and losing two of his brothers was really draining the young scientist. All the seemingly useless phone calls and database searching had left him virtually no time to work on the mutagen. And even when he did get time for sleep, he was kept awake with worry, or a sudden idea of another way to solve their problem.

Donatello heard the door open, but didn't bother lifting his head. Judging by the heavy footsteps, it was Casey. And, judging by the delicious smell that greeted his nose, Casey had brought food.

"I come bearing treats!" the older man exclaimed, as he walked past Donatello on the couch.

The sound of plastic bags being set down and then being rifled through could be heard, but Donatello still couldn't be brought to open his tired eyes. Next came the sounds that accompany the making of coffee. This brought a small smile to Donatello's face, as he began to drift off - he could definitely use a good, strong cup of coffee.

About fifteen minutes later, the normally purple-clad ninja was jolted back awake as someone sat next to him on the couch. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, Donatello turned to see Casey, who was smiling and holding out a mug of coffee and a gigantic, extremely gooey-looking cinnamon roll.

"Sorry, were you actually sleeping?" Casey asked, his smile turning apologetic.

"Yeah, but it's fine. I should be in the lab right now, anyway," Donatello replied, giving a smile of his own and accepting the coffee. "Thank you."

"Eat, too; you guys are so skinny, it's freaking me out," Casey said, pushing the plate into Donatello's hand.

Donatello chuckled lightly, setting the plate down on his lap. With his now free hand, he tucked a few uncooperative strands of hair behind his ear. Looking back up, he notice Casey staring at him contemplatively. A slight blush crept onto his cheeks.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"No, just…well, you're sort of…" Casey paused, trying to find the best way to phrase his thoughts. Finally, he came up with, "feminine."

Donatello frowned, then grumbled, "That's what everyone keeps saying."

"Can't wait to see what Raph looks like," Casey said, trying to steer the topic in a less dangerous direction. "It's interesting that you and Leo don't look anything alike. Do either of you look like Raph or Mikey?"

"Not really. It makes me think that we actually aren't blood-related," Donatello answered. He broke off a bit of the pastry and popped it in his mouth, looking thoughtful as he chewed.

"So, uh…where is Leo, anyway?" Casey asked, looking around as if he might spot the eldest brother lurking in a corner.

"Meditating in his room. Hopefully, he fell asleep; I think he's gotten even less than I have since this all started."

"Not sleeping isn't going to help anybody."

Donatello rolled his eyes. "Obviously. It's just not easy."

Taking his feet off the table, Donatello pushed himself to the edge of the couch and leaned forward. He set his coffee and plate on the table, tore off a chunk of cinnamon roll, and pushed it through the wire of Splinter's cage. Splinter ran over immediately and grabbed it.

Donatello and Casey sat in silence as they watched the rat nibble on his pastry.

:::

It was free time once again at St. Bernard's Home for Boys. Michelangelo had gone outside with Jake, Bobby, and a few of the younger boys to play some sort of game, but Raphael didn't feel like doing much of anything. Unless, of course, it involved getting out of there.

An entire week had passed now since they'd been brought here, and still there had been no word from their brothers. What could possibly be keeping them? Had they perhaps been captured by the police as well, and put in a different home? Surely they should have at least called by now…

Raphael had asked to use the phone several times now, but was always told no. The first few times, he'd asked to call his family - they'd said it wasn't safe. Then he'd asked to call his lawyer - they'd gotten mad at him, and told him that if he asked again, he'd be in trouble.

There was only one phone in the building that made outside calls, and it was in the director's office. Mr. Richardson was almost always in there, and when he wasn't, he kept the door locked. Raph was fairly certain he could pick the lock, and if not, he could always just _break_ it. Now all he needed was the opportune moment…

:::

Casey stared up at the ceiling, letting his thoughts wander. He was at the Lair, currently lying on the couch, waiting for sleep to claim him. Since the first time he'd come over after what he termed 'The Changing', Casey had barely left. It wasn't right, the turtles being separated like this. Especially at a time when something so weird was going on, and they could most use each others' support.

So Casey really felt like he should stick around. To keep up morale, supply food, make phone calls, give a friendly ear…whatever he could do to help.

Currently, it was nearing two o'clock in the morning. Casey had literally forced Leonardo and Donatello into their beds a few hours ago, telling them if they got back up before eight in the morning, they'd regret it. After a quick call to let April know he wouldn't be home tonight, he'd settled himself down on the couch to try and catch some Z's, himself. He was not having much luck with it, however.

Were Raphael and Michelangelo okay? He'd heard stories of orphanages where the staff abused the orphans. Could his friends be in one of those places? Casey couldn't see Raph taking that sort of thing lying down. Maybe they had him locked up because he'd tried to fight back…and poor Michelangelo was all alone, forced to do whatever the evil "caretakers" wanted!

A low growl escaped him as he continued in this line of thought. It wasn't fair that he couldn't just go look for them! Not that Leonardo had control over him…he could do whatever he wanted, if he thought it was the right idea…And it _was_ a good idea. If it was just himself, there was even less chance of getting caught. And if he did get caught, he was sure the punishment couldn't be too bad. A night in jail, at most, right?

Right, that settled it. He was going to go find his friends, and he was going to do it now. But, just as his feet hit the ground, the phone rang.

Casey turned and stared at it, slightly unbelieving. It rang again. Casey jumped over the back of the couch, tripped, and fell flat on his face. He got right back up and rushed to pick up the receiver.

"Hello?" he said into it urgently, slightly breathless from his efforts.

There was a slight paused, then the caller whispered, "It's Raph."

"Raph! I can't believe it! We've been trying to find you, but everyone's being a real bastard, so we've had no luck, but here you are, calling us!"

"Whoa, Case, calm down, man!" Raphael hissed. "I don't have much time - I had to break into the director's office to use the phone, and someone could be by any minute."

"Right, of course, sorry. So where are you; are you okay?" Casey asked, grabbing the pen and paper they kept at the phone for such purposes.

"It's called St. Bernard's Home for Boys, but I don't know the address," Raphael answered.

"Donnie can find it. And that's St. Bernard, like the dog?"

"I guess. Where is Donnie, anyway? Why are you answering the phone?"

"I made them get some sleep. They've been up almost nonstop trying to find you guys, you know."

Raphael sighed. "Well, this whole mess will be over soon now. What's the plan?"

"Simple sneak, grab, and go. When's the best time, do you think?"

"Around this time, everyone's usually asleep. They've got one or two people that come around, making sure everything fine, every few hours, though."

"Well, then we'll make it quick. Expect us tomorrow, around two AM, then; no way I'm waiting any longer!"

"All right, I'll let Mikey know. I'd better get back to bed."

"Yeah, okay. See ya soon!"

"Later." And with that, Raphael hung up the phone.

Casey hung up as well, nearly bouncing in his excitement. They'd found them! It was only a matter of hours before they'd be reunited once more. Casey paused. It didn't sound like the phone, or his conversation, had woken Leo or Donnie. Should he wake them up and tell them? No, he'd let them sleep, and tell them in the morning. They would all need their rest if they wanted to pull this off.

:::

Raphael smirked as he pulled his covers up over him. He'd managed to get in and out without anyone catching him. His brother's and Casey were going to be getting him out of here tomorrow.

It was almost too good to be true…

:::

Author's Note: Gah! It's been another month! Apologies, once more, dear readers.

But it's up now! What'd'ya think? I must tell you that the first paragraph was actually written by my sister (Akiko, Keeper of Sheep - READ HER FICS!). I told her I was stuck, and asked for her help. A few seconds later, she texted me that. She's so awesome!

Sadly, chapter eight probably will be another month away. It's not my fault, I swear! I do try, really, _really_ hard. Really!

Thanks for reading, reviewing, and adding me to your lists - I love you all! Ta!


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